• Cagi@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Because we live in a system where paying more for doing the right thing will get fired and sued for lost profits as a CEO. If you run a publicly traded company, you are legally beholden to make the decision that yields the most profit, full stop.

        • lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          I’m as cynical as anybody else and there was a time I also would have repeated it as well.
          But… show me the law. Show me where it says this.

            • lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              Your phrasing was “legally beholden” which suggests to me that a law exists requiring directors and officers to choose the most profitable path. The wikipedia page you linked does not mention any such law. It describes a type of lawsuit that investors can bring against those running the company.

              • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Perhaps they didn’t use the right words. Iirc the correct term is ‘fiduciary duty’. A publicly traded company has a fiduciary duty to create value for shareholders.

                The duties of some fiduciaries have been codified, for example, the statutory duty of skill and care which is imposed upon trustees by section 1 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000) and the relationship between company directors and the company under the Companies Act 2006

                https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/legal/guidance/fiduciary-duties

              • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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                1 year ago

                They are only legally beholden to do what their shareholders collectively want. While it’s not necessarily just for profit, if the shareholders are only demanding more profits, that’s how the company will behave.